In Appreciation

A great big thank you …

…to all the members and friends, individuals, corporations, government agencies, foundations, and organizations of the American Library Association (ALA) who helped us fulfill our mission in fiscal 2011! The ALA is grateful for the generous support of the many donors who have graciously enriched the past, transformed the present, and created extraordinary opportunities for all types of libraries and the library profession.

During fiscal 2011, ALA and its divisions, offices, and round tables raised more than $7.2 million. Through your generosity, we have been able to uphold advocacy for libraries and increase public awareness of their value and the services they provide, create awards and scholarships, and support programs and initiatives within divisions, offices, and round tables. Your gift, grant, or sponsorship support makes a real difference and helps ALA better serve the nearly 120,000 libraries across America and the millions of people they serve each year. We are truly grateful.

The following library advocates made significant contributions to help support @ your library®—The Campaign for America’s Libraries. We thank them, as well as our Library Champion members, who generously supported initiatives of The Campaign for America’s Libraries.

Library Champion since 1998

For more information on the Library Champion program and to learn how your company can join our growing list of corporate leaders, please visit the ALA Library Champions web page.

ALA funding initiatives

ALA endowment

The ALA endowment has grown from $28.8 million to $29 million thanks in part to the generosity of members and friends of ALA. Despite tremendous progress, we continue to strategically implement plans to grow the endowment in order to support the mission of critical ALA programs. A sufficient endowment will generate reliable and permanent income, ensuring that ALA will continue to play a major role as the voice of America’s libraries for generations to come. If you are interested in creating an endowment in your own name or your company name, or in memorializing a loved one or someone else who has strongly impacted your life, please contact the ALA Development Office by e-mail at development@ala.org or by telephone at 312.280.3259.

ALA scholarships

The ALA is committed to promoting and advancing the librarian profession. To demonstrate this commitment, ALA and its units provide more than $300,000 annually for study toward a master’s degree in library and information studies from an ALA-accredited program, or for a master’s degree in school library media program that meets the ALA curriculum guidelines for a National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) accredited unit.

ALA Spectrum Initiative

The ALA has committed itself to making a master’s degree in library and information science more accessible and affordable for talented women and men who have made the library profession a career choice. Libraries serve as the foundation of life-long learning in our society—they change lives, build communities, and connect at the local level with global resources of information and knowledge. To meet the changing needs of an evolving society, libraries need a new generation of culturally diverse librarians. This is the goal of the Spectrum Scholarship Program.

Established in 1997, the Spectrum Scholarship Program is ALA’s national diversity and recruitment effort designed to address the specific issue of underrepresentation of critically needed ethnic librarians within the profession while serving as a role model for ways to bring attention to larger diversity issues in the future. Spectrum Scholars improve service at the local level because they reflect the communities served by libraries in today’s changing world. Spectrum has provided more than 725 scholarships to qualified applicants enrolled in ALA-accredited graduate programs in library and information studies or NCATE-AASL reviewed and approved school library education programs.

ALA President Molly Raphael, ALA President-Elect Maureen Sullivan, Immediate Past President Roberta Stevens, and ALA Past President Dr. Betty J. Turock, chair of the initiative, continue the Spectrum Presidential Initiative as a special campaign to raise $1 million for the Spectrum Scholarship Program. Through this initiative, ALA aims to meet the critical needs of supporting master’s-level scholarships, providing two $25,000 doctoral scholarships, increasing the Spectrum Endowment to ensure the program’s future and developing special programs for recruitment and career development.

In 2007 the ALA—the largest and most influential library association in the world—embarked on a special public awareness and advocacy campaign entitled @ your library®—The Campaign for America’s Libraries. At its core, this Campaign speaks loudly and clearly about the value of libraries and librarians in the 21st century and has been designed to convey the value of public, school, academic, and special libraries as centers for information, learning, literacy, and culture at the national, state, and local level. Your contribution and the support of corporate and foundation sponsors can help ALA support the library community to reach the millions of people they serve. For more information on the Campaign and sponsorship opportunities, please contact the ALA Development Office by e-mail at development@ala.org or by telephone at 312.280.3259.

Libraries are often the first place that many people experience live music, poetry, documentary film, dance, art, and literature. For Americans without proximity to cultural institutions or the financial means to access cultural events, the free library offers an essential connection to the wider world through the arts and humanities. For that reason, ALA’s Public Programs Office established the Cultural Communities Fund (CCF) to support diverse and excellent cultural programming in all types of libraries. These programs promote cultural understanding, civic engagement, and life-long learning. For more information on the kinds of programs that are supported by the Cultural Communities Fund, please visit the ALA’s Public Programs Office web page.

The 21st Century Fund

Unrestricted gifts give ALA the flexibility to respond quickly to unanticipated challenges facing all types of libraries and to act on new opportunities. To learn more about these initiatives and how you can make a donation to ALA, please visit the ALA Development Office web page.

Other major initiatives

ALA–Allied Professional Association

The ALA–Allied Professional Association (ALA-APA) was established to enable the certification of individuals in specializations beyond the initial professional degree and to promote the professional interests of librarians and other library workers. For more information on ALA-APA, please visit the ALA-APA web page.

Freedom to Read Foundation

The Freedom to Read Foundation (FTRF) was established to promote and defend First Amendment rights, to foster libraries and institutions wherein every individual’s First Amendment freedoms are fulfilled, and to support the right of libraries to include in their collections and make available any work that they may legally acquire.

LeRoy C. Merritt Humanitarian Fund

The LeRoy C. Merritt Humanitarian Fund provides direct financial assistance to librarians who have been denied employment rights because of their defense of intellectual freedom principles or due to discrimination on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, race, color, creed, religion, age, disability, or place of national origin.

Other giving opportunities

The ALA offers a range of opportunities to support its mission to provide leadership for the development, promotion, and improvement of library and information services and the profession of librarianship in order to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all. Within the framework of this mission, ALA works with its many divisions, offices, and round tables to achieve its goals and priorities.

To learn more about ALA initiatives and how you can make a donation to ALA or to a division, office, or round table, please visit the Other Giving Opportunities web page.

Library Advocates, 2010–2011

We are proud to recognize our many members, friends, individuals, corporations, government agencies, foundations, and organizations who gave so generously to ALA and its divisions, offices, and round tables. Our work would not be possible without your interest, involvement, and leadership.

This honor roll recognizes all the donors who have invested in ALA through grants, sponsorship and other contributions made between September 1, 2010, and August 31, 2011.

Individual Contributions

The 2010–2011 ALA Donor Roster (PDF) features an alphabetical listing of our contributors, regardless of the size of their contribution. We thank each and every one of these individuals who have given generously to support ALA. We want you to know how meaningful these annual commitments are to our ongoing work. In fiscal year 2011, ALA received more than $258,000 in donations. Thank you!

Legacy Society

The ALA Legacy Society honors and recognizes the enduring commitment of those benefactors who have provided for ALA or its divisions, office and round tables in their estate plans and made a lasting contribution to the future of the American Library Association.

Estate Gifts

The American Library Association would like to acknowledge the following individuals for making provisions in their estate to support the Association, its divisions, offices, round tables or programs. Gifts from these estates were realized during the 2010–11 fiscal year.

Estate of Margaret “Peg” Oettinger

To find out how you can include ALA or any of its divisions, offices, or round tables in your estate plans and become a member of the ALA Legacy Society, please visit the Planned Giving web page.

Giving to America’s Libraries—include your name in the ALA Annual Report

A contribution to the American Library Association is a gift to help strengthen public, school, academic, and special libraries across the country. Through the generous support of our members and friends, ALA advocates for libraries and library users, promotes literacy and community outreach programs, encourages reading and continuing education in communities across America, and provides scholarships to students preparing to enter the library profession.

We encourage you to become a part of the important role libraries play in our daily lives. Please consider making the most powerful gift you can make: an unrestricted gift. The flexibility of unrestricted gifts enables ALA or its divisions, offices, and round tables to respond quickly to unanticipated challenges facing all types of libraries and to act on new opportunities. In addition to unrestricted gifts, ALA seeks support for many specific initiatives that impact not only libraries but communities everywhere. For more information on supporting ALA and its work, please visit the ALA Development Office web page, giveALA.

Use the search options on the left to choose the fund or program you want to support. Enter your gift amount and then click the Next button. You can make donations to more than one fund and make gifts on behalf of your family and friends. All contributions to ALA are tax-deductible to the extent provided by law.

By mail

Questions?

Call the development office at 1-800-545-2433, ext. 3259, or contact us by e-mail at development@ala.org.

ALA Corporate Partnership/Sponsorship Program

The ALA Corporate Partnership/Sponsorship Program is a valuable asset to the Association and its divisions and units because it helps provide critical funding and support for all types of libraries and the library profession. Our partners and sponsors recognize the merit of using their marketing or philanthropy dollars to support an Association that speaks to the value of libraries as a community asset. Collaborating with ALA gives organizations an opportunity to make an important investment in the future of libraries and literacy—and the future of our society.

Our Corporate Partnership/Sponsorship Program provides organizations with an opportunity to:

Amplify corporate messages to more than 120,000 public, school, academic, and special libraries nationwide and the millions of people they serve.

Develop critical quality programming to connect with ALA’s 59,000 members in the library community.

Showcase a corporate brand and image in an unmatched environment.

Gain public recognition on the local, regional, and national levels for promoting literacy.

Receive national recognition of partnership/sponsorship with the Association through press releases to our network of media contacts and recognition in the ALA’s Annual Report and American Libraries, ALA’s membership magazine.

Benefit from opportunities for additional promotional events, such as ALA and divisional conferences.

The ALA Corporate Partnership/Sponsorship Program was developed to provide significant exposure for a company seeking to align itself with ALA and its mission. The ALA Development Office will be happy to work closely with your company to carry your marketing or philanthropic objectives to new heights while building a unique relationship with ALA. For more information, please contact the Development Office at 312.280.3259 or by e-mail at development@ala.org.